memeorandum: Why women have a right to sex-selective abortion (Sarah Ditum/Guardian)

4:35 PM ET, September 19, 2013

Top Items:

The GOP's Self-Defeating ‘Defunding’ Strategy — It will only strengthen the president while alienating independents. — In 2010, Republicans took the House of Representatives by gaining 63 seats. They also picked up six U.S. senators and 675 state legislators, giving them control …

Discussion: The Fact Checker, Hawkings Here, Washington Post, PostPartisan, NationalJournal.com, Ballot Box, No More Mister Nice Blog, The Hill, American Spectator, Daily Kos, The Plum Line, Talking Points Memo, The Hill, The Daily Caller, msnbc.com, First Read and Taylor Marsh

Brian Beutler / Salon:

New test could expose GOP's pack of charlatans — Conservatives in the Senate have spent weeks and weeks hectoring House Republicans to stand true to GOP principles and make funding for the federal government contingent upon Democrats agreeing to defund Obamacare.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, PostPartisan, Washington Examiner, The Plum Line and Hullabaloo

Jennifer Bendery / The Huffington Post:

Ted Cruz Digs Himself In Further On Obamacare: ‘Likely That It Will Take Another Election For A Full Repeal’ — WASHINGTON — Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) didn't have much to say Thursday in response to House Republicans fuming at him for conceding that the Democrat-controlled Senate …

Discussion: The Hill, Daily Kos, BOR, Hot Air, Outside the Beltway, The Hinterland Gazette, The Fix and The Plum Line

Dylan Scott / Talking Points Memo:

Boehner To Cruz: Time To Put Up Or Shut Up On Defunding Obamacare — House GOP leadership has been frustrated for weeks with Senate Republicans like Ted Cruz (R-TX) for putting the pressure on the lower chamber to defund Obamacare in exchange for funding the federal government.

CNN:
House Republicans question Cruz's Obamacare-defunding fervor

Discussion: Politico, American Prospect, PoliticusUSA, The Hill, addictinginfo.org, Mediaite, Senator Ted Cruz, Talking Points Memo, The Raw Story, First Read, Prairie Weather, The Moderate Voice, The Reaction, Post Politics and The Hill

Kirsten Powers / The Daily Beast:
The GOP Is Threatening Murder-Suicide With New Shutdown Warnings

Discussion: Washington Post and Democratic Policy & …

Russell Berman / The Hill:
Boehner challenges Senate GOP to ‘get the job done’ on defunding

Discussion: CNN

Russell Berman / The Hill:
Boehner: Obama should negotiate on debt, but not with me

Discussion: E2-Wire, The Hill and Daily Kos

Sabrina Siddiqui / The Huffington Post:
Ted Cruz Infuriates House Republicans By Conceding Defeat On Obamacare Repeal

Discussion: Real Clear Politics, Business Insider, Daily Kos, The Hill, A plain blog about politics, Politico, Washington Wire and Roll Call

Gail Collins / New York Times:
World War O — The war against Obamacare: All the rationality …

Discussion: Daily Kos

Laurie Goodstein / New York Times:

Pope Bluntly Faults Church's Focus on Gays and Abortion — Alessandro Di Meo/European Pressphoto Agency — Pope Francis, who has said the church should be a “home for all,” on Sept. 4 in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican. — Pope Francis, in the first extensive interview of his six-month-old papacy …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Firedoglake, ThinkProgress, Gawker, Jezebel, NBC Latino, National Review, CNN, Guardian, The Dish, Mediaite, Joe. My. God., The Hinterland Gazette, Althouse, Shakesville and Towleroad News #gay

America Magazine:

A Big Heart Open to God — The exclusive interview with Pope Francis — Editor's Note: This interview with Pope Francis took place over the course of three meetings during August 2013 in Rome. The interview was conducted in person by Antonio Spadaro, S.J., editor in chief of La Civiltà Cattolica, the Italian Jesuit journal.

Discussion: Firedoglake, msnbc.com, PostPartisan, The Week, The ToastThe Toast, Guardian, CNN, NPR, LifeNews.com, CBS DC and The Raw Story

Associated Press:
Pope Francis Criticizes ‘Obsessed’ Church Focus On Abortion, Gay Marriage, Contraception

Discussion: Balloon Juice

English pravda.ru:

Senator John McCain: Russians deserve better than Putin — When Pravda.ru editor, Dmitry Sudakov, offered to publish my commentary, he referred to me as “an active anti-Russian politician for many years.” I'm sure that isn't the first time Russians have heard me characterized as their antagonist.

Tal Kopan / Politico:

Truthfully, John McCain in wrong Pravda — Sen. John McCain got his wish when his op-ed against Russian President Vladimir Putin was published in Russia news outlet Pravda. The only problem — it may have been the wrong Pravda. — The Arizona Republican published his anti-Putin piece …

Discussion: Mediaite, Weasel Zippers, English pravda.ru, Guardian, The Moderate Voice, Joe. My. God., TheBlaze.com and Business Insider

Leslie Bentz / CNN:
McCain publishes opinion piece in Pravda - but not the one he wanted

Discussion: Associated Press, The Moderate Voice, The Stranger …, Taegan Goddard's … and Gallup

KHOU-TV:

Texas appeals court overturns Tom DeLay money laundering conviction — HOUSTON — A Texas Court of Appeals in Austin has overturned the conviction of former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, attorney Brian Wice tells KHOU 11 News. — DeLay, 66, was convicted in 2010 for his alleged role in a scheme to influence Texas elections.

Discussion: protein wisdom, Talking Points Memo, Mediaite, Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion and The Raw Story

Sarah Wheaton / New York Times:

Conviction of DeLay in Texas Donation Case Is Overturned — WASHINGTON — A Texas appeals court on Thursday overturned the criminal conviction of former Representative Tom DeLay, sparing him the three-year prison sentence he received in 2011 after being found guilty in a politically charged trial.

Discussion: Washington Monthly

Rebecca Shabad / The Hill:
Tom Delay's conviction overturned

Discussion: Politico and CNN

USA Today:
Texas court overturns Tom DeLay conviction

Discussion: neo-neocon, Hawkings Here, Hot Air, Taylor Marsh, The Daily Caller and Gretawire

Associated Press:
Conviction of Tom DeLay Is Overturned

Discussion: Alan Colmes' Liberaland, JustOneMinute and Associated Press

Yahoo! News:

Creepy Obamacare ad hits college campuses and your nightmares — There will be girls. There will be beer. There will be cornhole. And someone will be dressed in the creepiest Uncle Sam costume you've ever seen. — Welcome to the strange new front in the war over Obamacare.

Discussion: ABC News, Politico, A plain blog about politics, Hullabaloo, The Week, ThinkProgress, Twitchy, Joe. My. God., BuzzFeed, msnbc.com, The Hill, Mediaite, TheBlaze.com, The Raw Story, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES and Daily Kos

Dylan Scott / Talking Points Memo:
WATCH: Anti-Obamacare Videos With ‘Creepy Uncle Sam’

Discussion: A Spork in the Drawer

Craig Bannister / CNSNews:

Obama: ‘Raising the Debt Ceiling...Does Not Increase Our Debt,’ Though It Has ‘Over 100 Times’ — Raising the debt ceiling doesn't increase the nation's debt, Pres. Obama declared in a speech today. — In a speech at the Business Roundtable headquarters in Washington, D.C. …

Discussion: Michelle Malkin, msnbc.com, protein wisdom, The White House, Weasel Zippers, White House.gov Blog, Independent Journal Review, Vox Popoli, Questions and Observations, PoliticusUSA and TheBlaze.com

David Harsanyi / The Federalist:
Yes, Americans Like the Debt Ceiling - And it Matters

Discussion: National Review and ThinkProgress

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
If we get a debt ceiling crisis, it's because Republican voters want one

Discussion: Business Insider, National Review, Prairie Weather and Taegan Goddard's …

Catherine Thompson / Talking Points Memo:

Two Men Dead In Michigan Road Rage Shootout, Police Say — Police said two men died Wednesday after a shootout allegedly motivated by road rage, the Grand Rapids Press reported. — The initial police investigation showed Ionia, Mich. residents James Pullum, 43, and Robert Taylor, 56 …

Andrew Krietz / MLive.com:
Road rage shootout: 2 men killed identified after evening incident in Ionia

Discussion: The Raw Story

Pete Kasperowicz / The Hill:

Dem tries to shame members on food stamps with props — Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) on Thursday used food props on the House floor to portray members of Congress as steak-eating, vodka-swilling socialites in a bid to get Congress to reject a GOP bill cutting $40 billion in food stamps.

Discussion: Des Moines Register and CNN

Stephanie Condon / CBS News:
House Republicans pushing for major food stamp cuts

Discussion: BuzzFeed, The Raw Story, Shakesville, Daily Kos and American Thinker

Amanda Ripley / The Atlantic Online:

The Case Against High-School Sports — The United States routinely spends more tax dollars per high-school athlete than per high-school math student—unlike most countries worldwide. And we wonder why we lag in international education rankings? — Every year, thousands of teenagers move …

Discussion: FishbowlDC

Laura Collins / Daily Mail:

EXCLUSIVE: Two decades after her affair with Bill Clinton, Gennifer Flowers reveals they'd be together now if it wasn't for Chelsea and how former president confided in her that Hillary was bisexual — She bitterly regrets rejecting him when he last begged to see her and says he's the ‘love of her life’

Discussion: The Jawa Report, Weasel Zippers, Taegan Goddard's …, American Spectator, Gawker, The Daily Caller and Right Wing Watch

Sarah Ditum / Guardian:

Why women have a right to sex-selective abortion — As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't matter why any woman wants to end her pregnancy. If it's to select for sex, that's her choice — When you talk about being pro-choice, sex selective abortion is often slung at you as the triumphant gotcha.

Discussion: National Review, NewsBusters and LifeNews.com

Felix Salmon:

The surprising value of not tapering — I'm very late to this — I was a bit distracted by other things today — but the big storyline of the day seems clear: the Fed didn't taper, and markets surged in response. — So here's my question. If you take the amount of tapering …

Discussion: Bloomberg and Business Insider